|
Albannach is Scots-Gaelic for
"Scottish" or "Scotsman". That's exactly what we are. Albannach are all born
and bred in Scotland and our purpose in life is to share our intriguing
culture, history and heritage with you by means of our music.
Albannach are not just another Scottish 'Pipes & Drums' band, indeed we
bring a new and exciting form of music to your living room. A championship
winning piper, an extremely talented main drummer, bass drummers and bodhran
musicians bring you a brand new approach to percussion and Celtic music. Our
style of music is exciting, energetic and enchanting and we promise to leave
you begging for more.
Albannach at the Grandfather Mountain Highland
Games in July 2007
Band Biographies
 Jamesie
Jamesie is the bass drummer with the
band, he is also responsible for some of the bands vocal works.
Jamesie was born in Glasgow 1973, he
was raised there and left school at an early age to become an apprentice
motor mechanic.After serving his time as a mechanic, he moved on to other
forms of employment one of which was doing some film work for various UK
film production companies and the discovery channel.
It was through doing this that he
stumbled into the music scene and soon found himself playing the bass drum
with a tribal drum crew. After working with them for 5 years he moved on
and became part of Albannach, where he holds the title "the baron of
bass."
Jamesie's musical influences are
mostly rock and roll, with bands like AC/DC, Mötley Crüe, Metallica and
Pink Floyd being some of his favourites. He is also very fond of
classical music and enjoys the works of Bach and Yanni.
 Kyle
Born and brought up in the Pitlochry
area of Scotland, Kyle was first introduced to Scottish music when he
became a highland dancer at the age of 4. He competed and sat exams until
he gave it up at the age of 14. Shortly after this he joined the local
pipe band, The Vale of Atholl, where he spent 2 years on the side drum at
Novice Juvenile level and one year as the Juvenile Drum Major.
Kyle studied at Perth college for a
couple of years but caught the travel bug, so in 1996 he went travelling
in East Asia for 2 years, working over a year of this time in Hong Kong.
After returning home, Kyle worked
various jobs and then moved to Glasgow in 2000 doing the same for a couple
of years, before returning to college to study Furniture Construction and
Design.
Having graduated from college and
about to start work in the furniture industry, he was asked to join a
newly formed Scottish band, and soon he became the Lead drummer in
Albannach.
 Donnie
Donnie is a world-renowned bag
piper, we call him bullfrog, if you ever see him play you'll understand
why. Donnie is also extremely talented on other instruments, he's a
wicked drummer and also plays piano and guitar.
Having played the pipes in many
competitions and town halls throughout Scotland, he felt it was time to
leave traditional piping to the traditionalists and branch off ! Soon he
was picked up by a semi-professional band and was off on his travels
playing places in Europe, America and Asia. After some painstakingly hard
years he left to venture out with the boys and decided to take it to the
next level...
When Donnie's not touring, you will
find him up the Islands on the northwest coast where he likes to do some
composing, and also pursue liquid entertainment, but not necessarily in
that order. Donnie can also be found relaxing at home watching the
football, and of course being a dad !
Jacquie
Jacquie is the mother of the group,
i.e. she keeps the boys in line !
As well as that thought, Jacquie plays bass rhythms and is known for her
haunting vocal skills.
Aya
Aya is from a small town
called Pitlochry, where he was born and raised. Before moving to Glasgow
he spent his time terrorising the folks of the town and quickly working
himself through more jobs than any sane person would admit to having ! We
were going to list some of these, but it would take up too much space !
When he was just 15 he
became involved with the “Clan” organisations of Scotland, which led to
his first encounter with some of his future band mates, and also led to
him being an extra and “stunt fighter” on many film and TV sets. Not only
did this bring him out of his shell and give him some of the most
memorable times of his life, it also further fuelled his love for Scotland
and its history.
When he wasn’t getting
beaten up with swords he pursued his other passion, music, which led to
him studying sound engineering at Perth college when he was 19. At 21 Aya
moved to Glasgow to study Dance music production at James Watt college in
Greenock. After finishing his first year of the course, he was working at
his local video store when out of the blue came a phone call. The man on
the other end of the line was Jamesie and he had an offer that Aya
couldn’t refuse !
Although he had learned to
play the Bodhran when he was 17, he had not played it for about two years.
The prospect of picking it up again and playing in front of the band,
never mind the crowds, left him slightly nervous ! Now that he’s used to
the crowds and playing again, Aya is enjoying every minute of his time
with the band, he counts himself lucky to be doing something that combines
his two major passions, music and Scotland.
 Davey
Davey, otherwise known as 'The
Ramone' is a Bodhran player with Albannach. He was introduced to primal
pipes and drums while with a previous band that a lot of you might
recognise him from. The stresses of touring eventually got to him and
Davey took a break in 2004. In the spring of 2006, Davey was asked if he
wanted to join a new band with some old friends, and after such a long
break he jumped at the chance !
Davey has been steadily composing
music for the last two years and was encouraged by the positive response
to the ballad "Rebel King" that he composed last year!
He has been involved with live music
acts for over ten years now; a bass guitarist in Scottish folk and punk
bands, hundreds of impromptu folk sessions at festivals, and even spoken
word recitals of the poetry of Robert Burns. Over the last twenty years,
he has tried his hand at tattooing, and more notably sculpture, where his
pieces have been selling steadily. Davey has been drawing since the age
of four, so he is an accomplished artist. His current hobbies are
learning to play guitar, as well as writing short stories and memoirs,
which some of you have been exposed to on the website.
For the future Davey hopes to
continue to promote the bands diverse Scottish culture and heritage, and
to bring the music of Albannach to an increasingly widespread audience.
He wants to build on the solid base of the first album and continue to
play with Albannach for as long as he can execute my world renowned
"Reverse Burl". Davey wants to express his thanks to Donnie, Jamesie,
Jacquie, Kyle and the irrepressible Aya for inviting their "Auld Da" back,
and to Donovan for being brave enough to even try to channel this musical
madness... last, but never least his wife Kimberly who backs him to the
very hilt in every daft endeavour !
Pictures taken at the Grandfather
games in North Carolina in 2007
|
